"Both the good and the pleasant present themselves to a man. The calm soul examines them well and discriminates. Yea, he prefers the good to the pleasant; but the fool chooses the pleasant out of greed and avarice."
- Katha Upanishad 1.2.2

New Delhi, Sep 18 (IANS) The Indian government Thursday further
relaxed its media policy by allowing foreign news magazines
to have Indian editions.

A cabinet notification said such publications would cover
those falling in the news and current affairs category.

However, permission would be granted only to those Indian
companies registered under the Indian Companies Act, 1956,
an official statement said.

The publishers of such editions would be eligible for 26 percent
foreign direct investment, it said.

The notification said the decision would provide Indian readers
access to foreign magazines at cheaper rates in comparison
to the same magazines imported at much higher rates.

Outlining the broad parameters for granting such permission,
it said the Indian companies would be allowed to enter into
financial arrangements with the owners of the foreign magazines.

Permission would be conditional on at least three-fourth of
the directors on the Board of Directors of the applicant Indian
company and all key executives and editorial staff being resident
Indians.

The title of the magazine should be verified and subsequently
registered by the Indian company from the Registrar of Newspapers
for India.

The content would be allowed to be up to 100 percent identical
to the foreign magazine concerned and the India publisher
would be free to add local content.

The Indian publisher would also be free to insert local advertisements.

Permission would be granted for publication of only such magazines
being published in the country of their origin.

In addition, they should have been published continuously
for a period of at least five years, and the publication must
have a circulation of at least 10,000 paid copies for the
last financial year in the country of its origin.